World Food Thursdays

Country No. 26: Brazil

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Galpao, Harrow Road

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Attendees: Ben, Kim, Lee, Ellen, Becky (venue chosen by Lee)

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£25 a head

 

If the World Food crew were keeping track of where they had been on their gastronomic adventure, and used it as a proxy for where immigrant communities have settled in London, North West London would almost certainly feature prominently. Having previously dined in the area for Malaysia, Yemen and Portugal the gang returned again for Brazil. The stretch of Harrow Road that passes through Kensal Green area is London’s own mini Sao Paolo sporting an uninterrupted run of Brazilian supermarkets and eateries. After an aborted attempt at Bolivian food (unanimously vetoed) we resolved to restart our journey in Galpao, a Brazilian café and bar.

 

Arriving early Ben and Lee elected to sample a Brazilian tipple or two. Somewhat disappointing the only Brazilian beer on offer was Brahma, a pale lager available in the most famous of Brazilian outposts, Sainsbury’s. To accompany their chilled beers Lee and Ben ordered themselves a little pre-starter of deep fried balls filled with shredded beef (original names escape me, and the menu has not found its way onto the internet so I’ll have to describe the items as best I can). Unfortunately for the early birds the rest of the gang all arrived before the amiable waitress brought over the snacks so the little dumplings of goodness had to be shared.

 

Once people had settled, ordered themselves a drink, and voted on which style of marble Becky and PK should opt for in their new bathroom we could get to the serious business of ordering. With three of the attendees starting how hungry they were we boldly went large on starters. Following the little meat filled balls were something similar stuffed with shredded greens and bacon, some calamari, some deep fried chicken pieces, beef and cassava and, as a late addition, a black bean and bacon soup.

 

It’s fair to say we didn’t anticipate the mountain of food that arrived. Brazilians go large. The green balls (for lack of a better name) were delicious and were keenly fought over. The beef arrived on a sizzling hot plate with big crispy chunks of cassava and deliciously fried onions. The chicken pieces were tiny morsels of chicken thigh coated in a spice mix and fried until the chicken flaked off the bone. All good so far. The calamari were a bit of a let-down and resembled hoops of deep fried batter, rather than the fresh and light rings of squid we were hoping for. The soup was tasty, but completely unnecessary. Nevertheless Ben polished off the entire bowl.

 

At this stage of the meal most foodies were pretty stuffed, but we knew we had an obligation to try the main courses and so we did. Assuming that the large plates would really be large we opted for just two; fish served with black beans, rice and salad, and pork ribs, served with cassava and rice. Both main courses arrived as expected, on enormous platters. The pork ribs were tender and succulent but the chef had been a bit heavy handed with the salt leaving us gasping for water. The fish presented a trip back to childhood arriving as several extra-long fish fingers coated in luminous orange breadcrumbs. Both main courses were basic and more in keeping with Becky’s assessment of Brazilian food “the worst food I’ve ever eaten”. 

 

Finally, as if weren’t already defeated, a bowl of deep fried banana arrived. Coated in the same orange breadcrumbs and piping hot it was a sweet treat to finish the meal, and a lesson for Ben, who was convinced that it would be plantain.

 

As we asked for the cheque the waitress confided in us that, after the volume of food we ordered to start, she didn’t expect us to order mains. Clearly she hasn’t been reading this blog.

 

Brazilian Facts:

• Prisoners in Brazil’s jails can reduce their sentences in interesting ways:

• For every book they read and write a report on they can reduce their sentence by 4 days.

• They can also reduce their time inside by pedalling on standing bikes to generate electricity for local towns.